Reconnecting
by Nanrz
Summary: A lil HS Xmas exchange gift will now be shared with the world. Enjoy!


If this seems eerily close to chap3 of Where We Go From Here, that's because I took that chapter and reformatted it for Dave3Jade for a lil HS-mas gift exchange. Mystery solved :3

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><p>Jade rolled out of bed at the rap of a single knock at her door. She considered being mad, but decided it took too much actual effort. She rarely attempted anything nowadays, using her space powers made the feeling of remorse float like a colossal stone in her heart. 'Like it even matters what time it is in this stupid place, anyway.' She thought to herself, rubbing one red-rimmed eye as she opened the door to her rooms.<p>

"Nnnmmwhat?" She yawned, her slightly elongated canines glinting in the dull light of the hallway.

"Yo. John said you were less than chill. Wanna chat?"

Jade tilted her head and frowned at the friend standing at her door. Dave. She'd not really spoken to him after John had straightened everything out with the Alpha timeline.

That day...

She gave an involuntary bristle at the memory, her tail fluffing out and ears laying back against her head. Giving a noncommittal shrug she turned, leaving the door open. She hopped back onto a large circular bed that took up the entire back corner of her room and curled into a tight ball, her tail laying over one knee.

Dave raised an eyebrow and entered, shutting the door behind him. He wasn't really sure what good he would do here considering her history with not only himself but Davesprite, but if it got John out of his cape for a few hours, he'd try. He picked his way over the clothes, hooded capes, and empty flowerpots strewn about the floor and settled himself down against front of the bed, leaning his back against it and staring at the messy room. He let his mind drift while his doggie pal stayed mute, waiting for the right moment to either speak or listen.

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><p>"HEY DAVE!"<p>

Dave sighed inwardly, and turned to give John a coolkid eyebrow lift over his shades.

"Sup?"

"Hey, I was wondering if maybe you'd seen Jade around? I think she's feeling really bad about what happened...uhm...before Terezi and I redid the timeline."

Dave shifted his weight and glanced around the room. Sure enough, Jade was missing again, and he couldn't recall the last time he'd actually seen her.

"She hasn't been around much, huh? What did Rose say when you asked her? I know you did."

John gave a guilty little frown and stepped closer, lowering his voice.

"Sorry, I did ask her first. Girls and all, right? But she said she wasn't the one to talk to about it. I figured it was some Seer thing or whatever. B-but! You're the next person I thought of, honestly man."

John ran his hand through his hair, pushing his hood to one side. He nibbled on one corner of his bottom lip. Dave could practically hear the little gears turning in John's head as he looked for the right thing to say. Ever since the timeline shenanigans he seemed nervoud around Dave, probably feeling bad for messing around in "Dave's god tier territory".

Dave clapped a hand lightly on John's shoulder and gave him a Strider-side grin, all teeth and Texan charm.

"It's cool John, I get it. Nah, don't start sweatin' windy bullets or nothin', I'm not miffed about you havin' to shuffle on over onto my turf. You did what you had to do, and I'm proud of ya."

John flushed a bit and gave Dave a big open smile in response.

"Thanks, Dave! I was worried for a minute there, I didn't want to-"

"Tsk tsk tsk Egbert, ya really think I'd stick in our friendship and call it done? It's chill as a icecube-covered frog, dude. I gotcha covered."

John felt a weight lift off his shoulders, Dave could see it. The still-goofy kid straightened up and gave the Strider a righteous bro-bump, and bustled off to look over Karkat's shoulder at something. Dave felt the request settle on his shoulders instead, like a second, and heavier, cape. He would try, anyway.

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><p>Now, although he had no real idea of what to do, he sat on the floor of Jade's room, took off his shades, and waited. He was good at that, waiting for the right moment. Sure enough, she began talking, her voice a whisper. He sat silent and listened.<p>

"It's my fault. I know everyone blames the Condesce for it but… it was still me. I could still see everyone, I could've fought against it, or something. I should've tried harder. They all say they forgive me but... I look at them and all I see are their faces in pain, crying, screaming at me, not understanding… I can't bear it. It's all my fault and I know it and it feels like there's an asteroid in my chest and I just..."

As she spoke, her whisper became hoarse as her voice thickened with unshed tears. She trailed off and started sobbing. Loud, aching sobs, the kind that raked across you with ice-cold claws. Dave wasn't sure what to do at this point. He usually just let them fall without a sound, he didn't know what to do with such...anguish. Every sob raked across him in a way that made his heart twinge, then ache, then finally lurch so hard that pulled him from the floor to the bed, torn between reaching for her and fleeing from the room, the asteroid, the whole damn timeline altogether, fixed or not.

He sat there, close but still far enough away that he would have to reach. He sat and listened the sobs, the sound of regret, of remorse, of guilt. Watched her take shuddering gasps, watched the way her shoulders hunched inward as though trying to make her disappear into herself. Before he knew it he'd pulled her tight against him, silent and yet yearning to say something, anything that would make her feel better. Anything to help close that god fucking awful hole that was ripping its way through her heart. She clung to him fiercely and grieve, until the tears were long gone and all she could do was shiver against him. After almost two hours, she pulled away from him, finally looking him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry."

He rubbed the back of her hand gently and gave a quirk of a smile.

"No big."

From that moment on, he came to see her every day, just to listen to her, hold her, distract her. After a few months, they began watching movies together, all kinds. She would shout at the screen when the characters did something stupid, he would throw popcorn at their faces to make her laugh. It became routine, something she could look forward to when despair beckoned with grasping, thorny claws in the depths of the night.

It was another three months before she started to realize that the ache in her chest had faded to nothing more than a memory.


End file.
